My 01/02 Klein Adept...new updates from my OP

Here is my 2001 or 2002 Klein Adept (not sure which year).

Although not a “vintage” Klein, I love the unique design and feel of this bike so much I bought a second frame and built one for road commute and general goofing off. I enjoy all your retro riders passion and appreciate the work that goes into rebuilding bikes and hunting for parts. It is a great hobby just like rebuilding old cars. I picked up a 3DV Ringle Moby seat post for my road Adept and thus my vintage parts obsession began. I want to mix old and new and throw as much vintage 3DV parts on this Klein as possible and still keep the bike “modern”. Here is what I intend to do but I want some general opinions and thoughts
1) Ringle 3DV seat post/skewers definitely
2) Already picked up some Cook Bros RSR black cranks but want a 3DV middle chainring – Kooka perhaps? Either 3DV or blue. Any other suggestions?
3) Ringle 3DV or vintage Klein water bottle cage – I don’t use the cages. Just there for the “look”. I use a camelback. Which should I get? The old ringle or old Klein. The Klein is definitely retro may be a bit more stockish but the 3DV ringle may fit the color scheme with my other sought after 3DV parts. Suggestions??? Opinions???
4) Kooka Billet 3DV stem 105mm 0 deg…yeah right I know this is kinda holy grail
5) What are some other vintage or non-vintage 3DV anodized parts I could use? Thinking of Ringle 3DV hubs but not sure if they will work with my Mavic crossmax’s ceramic rim brake. I like these rims but not sure if the lacing pattern is compatible. Sorry I am not up-to-date on wheelset mechanics. Any suggestions?
6) What about Paul brake levers? I use SRAM X0’s twist shifters and don’t want to give these up and not sure if the Paul’s will clear. I asked this in the “general” forum but got no response.
Looking for these parts

Although I love looking at all the retro Kleins, I am not a huge fan of the crazy paint jobs. I mean they are unique but I wish Klein just came out with a few standard color options for those of us who don’t like the bling as much. I know you guys are going to want to kill me but in the future I would like to repaint my Klein a flat black powder coat look like Santa Cruz bikes have. I would also like to put on some retro Klein frame decals. When I inquired with TREK about powder coating and prepping the frame for paint spray or powder coat, their response was they said something about the rear triangle welds not being able to handle the heat and the paint removal needs to be hand done and can't be media blasted, which is what I heard needs to be done in order for the paint to bond with the frame? I have emailed spectrum powder works http://www.spectrumpowderworks.com. SyCip Bikes custom frame builder who had done powder coating http://www.sycip.com and a local powder coater who has done many a steel and alu frames. All have said that they don’t think it should be an issue, have done hundreds of alu frames and are not sure what TREK is saying. I really think it is to protect their ass in the event something goes wrong. What do you guys/women think?

The rear stays are bonded to allow for the lack of seat stay pivot. The design was to allow the join and that section of tube (both seat stays and chainstays) to flex. Thats what Trek will be concerned about. I can't see any problem in a new coat of paint, just make sure that it is compatible with the flex at these points and you should be fine. I'm not sure that powder coating will be suitable, but could well be wrong. :?

thanks P20 for giving me the only feedback. thought i'd get more replies.

IMHO it's a great colour as it is, plenty of other bikes are flat black as standard, so why spoil this one? I think if you buy a Klein it is kind of as much for the colour/bling as anything else because there are aguably better bikes in any of the categories they made/make them in.

i guess the color it is right now is cool but not at all "bling" as other more vintage klein are. It's not like the plum crazy which changes color in the light angle. still i know what you mean but i was always keen to a more stealth look with a splash of color. i would now keep the rear triangle untouched and paint the main frame flat black all except the headtube which will be untouched as well

any suggestions on vintage parts? I also want some opinions if i should go for a ringle 3dv H2o cage or vintage Klein H2o cage.

hey dude. nice bike.

okay, been patient and persistant and got some parts and here is my adept with some vintage goodness
thanks everyone for the responses

Just now reading this post including the bit from way back. RE: powdercoating....Klein were somewhat vague as to why but they were pretty particular about the temperatures that their frames were subjected to and claimed that their processes added to the frame's strength. The frames were "cold welded" (their term for this) and then heat treated which changed the grain of the aluminum and again, added strength. I'm not too familiar with powder coating but if it involves heating the frame for a period of time, you could weaken the frame significantly. Also, since your frame has parts that are bonded, I wouldn't be too keen about heating up the resin glues that keep vital parts together. The last thing you want to do is have something crack or let go completely while you're riding. :shock:

I like the look of your bike and if you really wanted it painted a flat black, I'm sure you could go to any automotive repair shop and have them do it by painting over the existing finish - although I HIGHLY recommend NOT doing any repainting at all since your bike looks really decent. If you're going forward with the 3DV look, clearly you want your bike to stand out, right? Why would you paint it black and have it blend into the sea of other black bikes out there?

I have a set of Ringle 3DV skewers if you're still interested in completing the look you started. PM me if interested.

Also, I've always been curious about the full suspension Kleins and how they ride. I'm not a fan of the Mantra's oversized top tube (hurts the knees) but I've never ridden a Palomino or an Adept. The Adept looks to have the more modern suspension designs favored by Specialized and others. How do you like the way it rides and what would you compare it to?

I have an XL Adept Comp and it rides quite nicely as it's only about 2.75" travel front and rear. It's very squeaky though :shock:

Do you know if they're all like that after a certain number of miles or is it possible to grease or replace the squeaky part?